Daughters of Blood: Fall of Silvermoon
by The Corrupted Typer
Summary: As a young paladin during the middle of the war against the scourge and the High elves, Jaeda Bloodflame has it hard. But things get harder, and more personal for her, when a wounded farstrider shows up at her camp. And, to make matters worse, she has to foil the plans of a high elf secretly working with the scourge, a nearly impossible task since that high elf is her boss.
1. Introduction

_Introduction_

A young high elf, slouching from her effort to walk, strode though the land of Eversong, or whatever was left of it. Corpses littered the ground, blood splattered the grass and trees, and the ground was turned black from the death that had walked upon it's surface. Every inch of the once beautiful land was covered in the remnants of death, and no light could shine on this most appalling place.

her eyes were half closed, partially from tiredness and partially from grieving. The hope that had once filled her was gone, never to be seen again, lost within the battle that had taken place upon the very soil of which she walked. She walked slowly, taking in everything that had happened to her home, the place she had lived all of her life, which was now ruined. Nothing would ever be the same, everything was different now.

All she had trained for, all she had ever done for her people, was all wasted now. There was nothing left to do, nothing left to fight for. The very home she had lived in was ruined, its remains scattered among the ruined city. She was alone, surrounded by the memories, of what used to be, what could have been, what should have been.

Everything had been so wonderful, she was certain to have had a bright future. She would have been the best fighter in all the land, with all of Quel'thalas honoring her name. She would have been the best ranger there could have been, perhaps even the second in command to the ranger general. But all of that was gone, wasted in one little war that had ruined her future.

She picked her way among the dead, being careful not to harm any of her brethren further. The only reason she was there, was to prove it to herself, to prove that everything did happen, and that it hadn't been some silly nightmare of hers. But here she was, surrounded by the truth.

She slouched even lower, misery clear in her high elven features. All was lost. there was no hope. This was all that ran through her once bright and cheerful mind, which was now dark and hopeless.

A twig snapped in the distance, and she looked up in alarm. In front of her, only thirty feet at the most, was a walking corpse, its body twisted and covered in pieces of gore and flesh, the only thing keeping it together being strips of linen wrapped tightly around its mangled body.

It groaned, and looked around. Its attention went to her, and it growled as it ran over to confront her. The high elf growled in return, pure hatred filling her, as she quickly picked up her bow and aimed an arrow at where its heart would be. She pulled back with all her strength, her accuracy perfect, and shot the arrow, losing her footing from the force of the shot and falling back into the muddy ground.

She gasped as she hit the blood soaked ground and quickly got up, only to see the undead running towards her with a huge chunk of flesh missing from the middle of his chest. She groaned in annoyance, it was too close to use her bow. She grabbed a dagger from her belt and began slashing at the beast's disfigured body as it came to stand in front of her.

The thing must of had no brain, because it easily allowed her to get behind it and she quickly decapitated it, killing it for good. As its head fell to the ground she stood back gasping, half expecting the thing to rise up and fight again. But it lay still, lifeless for good. She regained her strength, and began to loot the creature.

What she found was most interesting, and heartbreaking for her. In the creatures clutches was a necklace, with a heart shaped pendant hanging from a gold chain. She picked up the necklace and held it close to her chest, hot tears falling from her eyes. She truly had lost everything.

After a minute of crying, she wiped the grime from the pendant and tied the necklace around her neck, then stood, still clutching the pendant. She hung her head down, and closed her eyes.

As the tears on her face dried, she whispered one last thing before leaving "I will avenge your death, my beloved sister. I promise you. Your death shall not have been in vain."


	2. Chapter 1

"Attack!" yelled Jaeda Bloodflame, as yet another group of scourge attacked her base in the forests of Eversong.

Her fellow paladins rushed down the grassy slope and charged towards the invaders, swords in hand, yelling brutish war calls worthy of an orc. Jaeda herself led them, her long steal blade pointing the way as they made there way to the creatures. She had been doing the same thing over and over again the entire day, and the endless amounts of sweat on her face proved it, but she showed no sign of tiring, all though inside she was ready to collapse from the strain on her muscles.

She herself was covered in gore, most from the creatures she had killed, some from the endless amounts of dust that had found there way on her armor and skin. She was covered in scrapes and bruises from head to toe, but nothing that could stop her from fighting. She was a paladin, after all, and this was her job, to serve and defend her people, no matter how messy it got.

She had a hard scowl on her face as they met the enemy, all of her muscles tensed and ready for the attack. She swirled around, her sword swinging over her head as she decapitated the first undead she met in battle. Its mangled body, if you could even call it a body, fell to the ground, bleaching the grass in blood. Jaeda moved past it, not even giving it a second glance.

She moved on to the next walking corpse, cutting it in half. She groaned in irritation as blood sprayed her face, making her smell like rotten meat. But she shrugged it off, unable to do anything about it at the moment. She moved on to the next undead, which was more in tact than the others, and brought her blade up high over her head as she prepared to let fall down upon its head.

But this one wouldn't be that easy to kill. It brought up a sword of its own and swung hers aside, making her growl. It may have had a weapon, but it was no match for a master paladin like herself. There swords began to clash, the undead faltering more and more as Jaeda brought her immense arm strength upon him. As she smashed her blade against his, the feeble sword in his grasp broke in half, falling to the ground.

She growled, and quickly dispatched of him. She kicked his corpse out of the way and looked around for another opponent.

She was glad to see that her tired and weak comrades were still doing well in battle, each one of them fighting one of the creatures, leaving only a few without a target. The enemies corpses piled up among the ground, making Jaeda smiled grimly.

She went over to the nearest undead, which was fighting one of the other paladins, and dispatched it quickly from behind, decapitating the creature easily. The paladin who had been fighting it in the first place gave Jaeda a quick salute before running off to join another battle.

Jaeda did the same, moving on to help one of her other comrades. She again dispatched the mangled corpse easily, cutting it in half from the chest. Its upper body wrangled around in the dirt, as if it were still alive. She decapitated it, ending its miserable after life quickly and swiftly. She spat at its mangled body, which was making a pool of black blood in the once green grass, and looked around.

The last of the enemies were being killed off as she looked around, being utterly slaughtered by the rest of her men. She panted, glad that the fight was over. She was covered in layers of grime, and she was hoping she might be able to clean herself back at the base, if they weren't attacked yet again.

As the remainder of the enemy party were practically slaughtered, her comrades walked over to her, all looking weary and tired, there clothes and skin covered in grime just like she was. She sighed, wondering if she had lost any of her men.

She looked around, wondering where the priests assigned to her group had gone off to. They would know if any lives had been lost, or if anyone had been injured badly. She saw the two priests, a man and a woman named Saralith and Noriand, a top the hill, sweating buckets.

Before Jaeda could make her way to them, she was surrounded by her comrades, waiting for orders from her. She sighed quietly, wishing she wasn't the captain at the time. It was nice, sometimes, but other times it got on her nerves. Like when her soldiers asked her if they could use the bathroom or go to bed. That part got on her nerves.

"Fall back to the base," she said in a stern voice "I want everyone to rest and have a warm meal tonight, you have all earned it from your fighting today." just as they began to sigh in relief, she asked "But I need two people on guard duty. Any volunteers?" no one said a word "Come now, do you want me to play victim?" there were a few chuckles among the crowd, but no volunteers "All right then. Amel and Nathien, you don't seem as bad as the others. You two can take shifts."

The two she had chosen, a short female high elf with red hair known as Amel, and a buff looking man with blonde hair known as Nathien, both stepped forward, Nathien letting out a moan of protest.

"Lets not be children, Nathien." said Jaeda, making a few chuckles ripple though the crowd "Don't worry, I'll have someone bring you a warm meal. And, as a special treat for _volunteering, _you can both have a break afterwards to take a hot bath."

The two elves both smiled at the 'hot bath' part, but it quickly vanished when they realized they still had to go on guard duty. Jaeda shook her head at them, amused. It was funny how she could still have a good laugh after fighting her way through a nasty bunch of walking corpses.

"Everyone else," she said, re-catching everyone's attention "Rest up, we have more to do tomorrow and I don't want my men falling over in battle from an improper sleep."

Her fellow paladins did as she said, and turned around to head back to camp, which was above a water fall not far from where they currently were. Some had smiled on there faces, obviously liking the fact that they were about to get a hot meal and a good nights rest, but others had grim, expressionless faces, as if they had slain too many over the past few days to be happy.

She sighed, hoping they would all be okay. Fighting your way though endless amounts of undead wasn't exactly a fun job to have, but it was there responsibility to full fill it. Sure they got there armor dirty, and they smelled like a dead vulture, and they may have to go for a couple of days without food, but it was what they signed up for when they began their training as paladins. It was what they had always been destined to do.

Jaeda turned and walked over to the two priests she had originally intended to speak with, making her way through the scattered bodies of the undead, who were finally just dead. She looked around cautiously, trying to see if any of the bodies belonged to her men. But from what she could see none of them were, and she hadn't noticed anyone missing from the meeting.

Saralith and Noriand were standing on the same hill top, seeming to be packing up their items and repairing what they could of there robes. Jaeda waved to them, catching the attention of a busy Noriand. He smiled a tired smile, that was weak and feeble. Jaeda smiled back, wondering how much energy the two priests had used up this time.

Saralith was bent over, fussing over something with her boots and complaining about it to Noriand. Noriand seemed to be tired and uncaring, only nodding his head in reply, barely making an effort to even listen to Saralith's nagging.

As Jaeda made her way to the top of the hill they stood on, Saralith stood back up and looked at her, her face tight and muscles tensed. Saralith was an older priest, with a few wrinkled here and there and some battle scars from long ago. She had white gray hair which was tied up in a high tail upon her head, with strands hanging out here and there. She was a tough looking person, and she was. She was also stubborn at times, though. She had the expression on her face that seemed to say not to mess with her, which was true. She may have been old, but she could cut you down to pieces with her magic.

Noriand, Saralith's former student and current acquaintance, was a little younger than Saralith, but still older than anyone in the group of high elves, besides Saralith. He had a taunt face with a slightly pointed chin and long blonde gray hair that fell over his shoulders. He was a calm person, almost never arguing, except for with Saralith, who he argued with constantly. He had wisdom in his eyes, but he was a good fighter as well.

"What brings you to us, captain Bloodflame?" said Noriand following a long yawn.

"Yes, what makes you have to bother us ever so abruptly?" asked Saralith with her arms crossed and her eyebrows arched.

"I wanted to know if any of my men were harmed or killed in the fight," asked Jaeda, ignoring Saralith's rude tone from before.

Noriand opened his mouth to speak but Saralith beat him to it "The whole whiny lot of them are fine, unless you count a paper cut as being a major injury. Really, captain, you have to make those men tougher. I went for a week with a broken arm with no treatment, and I didn't complain at all. Didn't make a peep. And I had to drag myself to Silvermoon."

"But they are all okay?" asked Jaeda again, for clarification.

"There fine," said Noriand, not letting Saralith beat him again.

Jaeda breathed a sigh of relief. "How about you two, then? make it out all right?"

"Barely," rasped Saralith "I was issued here to heal, not to fight. Those damned paladins of yours better learn to use their weapons, I must have been attacked by ten of those monsters!" she looked down t at her shoe and said "And look! My boot had been scuffed and torn open! Brand new pair too, I got them only ten years ago."

Jaeda sighed "I'll have a talk with them, and I'll have the next scouting party request a new pair of boots for you, Saralith, when they get into Silvermoon. And you can both have a warm bath tonight, and a hot meal."

"I suppose that would be fairly nice," said Saralith "But next time those paladins should be fighting! Unless they would like to take my staff and try their hands at healing."

Jaeda nodded as the old priestess walked away, going back to the camp. Noriand took one look at her, sighed, and followed after his old mentor. Jaeda smiled as she watched them go, wondering how two very different people like themselves could have ever gotten along, especially since one of them was Saralith. But they seemed to manage, however hard it may have been for them at first.

Jaeda picked up her sword, which was lying on the ground not very far behind her, and sheathed it. She began to make her own way up the hill to the camp, letting the roar of the nearby water fall sooth her. There camp was above the waterfall, giving them a good height advantage. But it was also much more relaxing, which was very nice after a harsh battle when all you wanted to do was plop into bed and go to sleep.

They had a few trees here and there, and green grass covered the forest floor. For the most part their camp was very nice, better than the ranger camps, which were make shift tents that were taken down every day and rebuilt once the rangers made their new camp. The paladins camp was a permanent settlement, made for protecting the front of the city.

Of course, Jaeda doubted anything would make it to the front of the city without being slaughtered by the farstriders first. They had received their fair share of battles, but for the most part it was silent, and they never got any real threat from the strange creatures that had begun to enter their homeland. After all, they were easy enough to kill.

She made her way up to the top of the hill, barely breaking a sweat from the steep slope climb, and walked into the camp. The camp was basically many rows of red tents, all different sizes, with a fire pit in the middle and a spiked fence circling it. Jaeda's own tent was in the back, with the water fall right behind it. It was slightly larger than the others, as Jaeda needed extra work space, but it was no more luxurious than the tents for her men.

Jaeda had made sure that her tent would be close to the entrance, that way she would be able to fend off attackers if needed very easily and she wouldn't have to walk to far to get to it. She smiled as she saw her large rectangular tent, and went a little faster. She had been expecting a letter from her sister for a long time now, and she was sure she would get it today.

She entered her private room, passing a few of her comrades as she did so, and went to her desk, where all of her mail was put when she gone. She was glad to see a large scroll, wrapped up and tied shut with a red Silvermoon ribbon, lying on her desk. She made her way quickly over to the desk. Plopping down in the cushioned wooden chair with ease. She knew the letter had been from her sister, there was no one else it could have been from.

She sighed as she made herself comfortable. It was just now that she had realized how sore her muscles were, and she found it hard to relax. She really did need to take a break. But her duty was to her people, and she probably wouldn't be getting a break any time soon.

She took the wrapped up scroll into her hands, smiling with joy. She had been waiting almost a month for the letter to come, and it made her day. She and her sister were extremely close, despite Jaeda being six years older than her younger sister. But that had never been an obstacle in their relationship, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Jaeda had been able t help her sister with many of her problems since she had been through them before, and Jaeda's young sister had helped her to enjoy life, and had taught her to relax every once in a while and have fun, despite the situation that was occurring.

She untied the red ribbon quickly, excited to read the letter. She unrolled the brown paper and was surprised to see it covered from top to bottom with scribbles of writing, all jumbled together making it harder for Jaeda to read it. It read:

_Dearest Sister,_

_I write to you from the City of Silvermoon, where I have been transferred to represent my quadrant in the Convocation of Silvermoon. It is only a temporary arrangement, but I am honored to have been invited. _

_Mother and father miss you, and they give you all their luck in hopes that you fight well in all of your battles. We've all missed you so. It has been boring here without you, and I hope you can come home soon. _

_There had been much battle talk in the convocation lately. Some of the citizens are getting worried about the undead being so close to us, and I have to admit, it's nerve racking for me too. And to think that you go out there everyday and fight them off, I really have no idea how you do it. Pfft, I must sound so childish. I'll stop my babbling and get on with the government news, I'm sure you'll want to hear about the military plans._

_the Convocation seems to want the military to pull back and save are resources before any more people are hurt, they seem to think that the undead is no big deal. The ranger general, Sylvanas Windrunner herself, thinks we should advance and break down the approaching army before they get the chance to attack the City. _

_I'm afraid I will have to cut this letter short, I have to attend the meeting tonight and I can not be late. My best wishes to you, my beloved sister, in hopes that you will return here soon.  
_

_Sincerely,_

_~A_

Jaeda smiled as she finished the letter, folding it up neatly and carefully placing it back in its envelope. She was glad to know that things were going well at home. She wished she could have been there to hear the news herself, but the battlefield had called her first, and she could not ignore the call of her people in this time of need.

She peaked out of the flap of her tent and saw that the night had fallen, and she quickly scrambled over to her bed, deciding that she would skip dinner and go to bed, sleep tugging at her all over.

She quickly undressed and pulled the covers over, slipping in and making herself as comfortable as she could before pulling the covers over herslef and closing her eyes, quickly slipping into a deep trance of sleep.


End file.
